Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, is King of England from 1307 until he is deposed by his wife Isabella in January 1327.
He is the sixth Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II.
Between the strong reigns of his father Edward I and son Edward III, the reign of Edward II is considered by some to be disastrous for England, marked by alleged incompetence, political squabbling and military defeats.
Widely rumored to have been either homosexual or bisexual, Edward also fathers at least five children by two women.
His inability to deny even the most grandiose favors to his male favorites (first a Gascon knight named Piers Gaveston, later a young English lord named Hugh Despenser) leads to constant political unrest and his eventual deposition.
Edward I pacifies Gwynedd and some other parts of Wales and the Scottish lowlands, but never exerts a comprehensive conquest.
However, the army of Edward II is devastatingly defeated at Bannockburn, freeing Scotland from English control and allowing Scottish forces to raid unchecked throughout the north of England.
In addition to these disasters, Edward II is remembered for his probable death in Berkeley Castle, allegedly by murder, and for being the first monarch to establish colleges at Oxford and Cambridge: Oriel College at Oxford and King's Hall, a predecessor of Trinity College, at Cambridge.
